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Bridging  the  Atlantic 


A  Discussion  of  the  Problems  and  Methods 
of  Americanization 

by 

Professor  Sarka  B.  Hrbkova 

Member  of  Nebraska  State  Council  of  Defense 

and 

Chairman  of  Woman's  Committee, 

Council  of  National  Defense, 

Nebraska  Division 


ouncil  c 


Bridging  the  Atlantic 

A  Discussion  of  the  Problems  and  Methods 
of  Americanization 

by 

Professor  Sarka  B.  Hrbkova 

Member  of  Nebraska  State  Council  of  Defense 

and 

Chairman  of  Woman 's  Committee, 

Council  of  National  Defense, 

Nebraska  Division 


Copyrighted  1919 
Issued  by  and  printed  for  State  Council  of  Defense 


BRIDGING   THE  ATLANTIC 


FOREWORD 

In  response  to  many  calls  from  various  parts  of  the  state  for 
a  discussion  of  the  Immigrant  problem,  the  address  "Bridginii' 
The  Atlantic"  was  presented  to  thirty  or  more  Nebraska  audi- 
ences by  Professor  Sarka  Hrbkova.  Later  the  address  was 
amplified  and  extended  into  a  series  of  talks  on  the  various  phases 
of  the  problem.  The  gist  of  these  discussions,  together  with  an 
appendix  of  recommendations  looking  to  effective  Americaniza- 
tion, is  herewith  presented. 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS^  OP' AMBltlCAl^i^ATid-N  3 

BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

Contrary  to  what  might  be  expected  by  this  title,  this  is  not 
to  be  a  learned  discourse  on  an  impossible  eligineering  feat,  em- 
bracing such  technical  terms  as  masonry,  abutments,  cantilever, 
girders,  beams,  semi-elliptical  aches,  piers,  etc.  'I  couldn't  define 
such  terms  if  I  wanted  to.  Engineering  requires  a  knowledge  of 
pure  mathematics.  The  building  of  this  special  kind  of  bridge 
over  the  Atlantic  involves  only  some  simple  caleulations.  For 
the  education  of  a  constructive  engineer  it  is  necessary  to  have 
a  knowledge  of  optics  and  drawing.  To  erect  the  connecting 
structure  between  the  European  kind  of  civilization  and  the 
American  kind — one  must  have  eyes  that  see  clearly,  sympathet- 
ically, and  you  must  draw  right,  just  conclusions  and  not  draw 
on  prejudices. 

It  was  one  day  when  crossing  from  aft  to  fore  of  the  monster 
ocean-liner  on  wiiich  we  sailed  back  to  America  that  some  one 
facetiously  remarked,  "Well,  one  can  practically  walk  dry  shod 
from  Europe  to  America.  These  long  new  ships  are  regular 
bridges,  for  by  the  time  you  get  to  the  bow  from  the  stern,  she 
has  touched  the  other  shore."  When  I  viewed  and  talked  with 
some  of  the  immigrants  in  the  steerage  and  later  with  other 
passengers  w^ho  rarely  moved  out  of  the  luxurious  Palm  Garden 
or  First  Saloon  end  of  the  boat,  my  heart  was  a  little  heavy,  for 
it  Seemed  to  me  that  from  third  cabin  to  first  was  leagues  and 
leagues  farther  than  from  France  to  New  York  harbor. 

When  our  boat  again  hove  in  sight  of  the  First  Lady  of  our 
Land,  by  which  I  mean  the  glorious  Statue  of  Liberty  on  Ellis 
Island,  it  was  one  of  the  sweetest  joys  of  my  life  to  greet  in 
reverent  spirit  this  symbol  of  America.  And  then  when  I  saw 
down  below  the  thousands  of  immigrants  crowding  to  the  rail 
to  catch  their  first  glimpse  of  the  Land  of  Promise — while  the 
setting  sun  tinged  goldenly  the  monster  torch  in  the  hand  of 
Bartholdi's  colossal  figure,  the  hope  came  that  Ainerica  would 
indeed  fulfill  all  the  heart  longings  of  these  newcomers  who  had, 
to  be  sure,  crossed  the  ocean,,  but  still  had  ahead  of  them  the 
yawning,  unbridged  chasm  that  separates  the  alien  from  the 
native  born  Americsm. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  Americans — those  who  weleome  the 


4  . ''  .  c*  .  c'  c*  '♦6RiDG5N<j  T^HE  ATLANTIC 

alien  and  those  who  would  slam  the  toll-gates  of  the  bridge  in 
his  face.  Those  who  welcome  the  foreigner,  see  an  opportunity 
for  the  highest  expression  here  of  what  he  brings  across  the 
bridge  of  the  Atlantic  as  his  contribution  to  American  civiliza- 
tion. The  others  will  maintain  that  the  foreigner  is  wholly  the 
gainer  and  the  native  American  the  loser  by  the  invasion  of  the 
so-called  ** alien".  There  are  certain  people  in  America  who 
always  look  askance  at  the  newcomer — warily — cautious — lest 
some  dire  contagion  be  contracted.  You  have  to  be  a  foreigner 
or  a  descendant  of  a  foreigner  to  get  the  benefit  of  that  sort  of 
attitude.  It  is  like  the  small  boy  in  school  who  was  asked  by 
his  teacher,  "Why  do  you  scratch  your  head?"  His  answer  was, 
** Because  I'm  the  only  one  in  the  room  who  knows  just  where  it 
itches."     You  see, — I  know  where  it  itches. 

Nicknajnes  for  Foreigners 

The  attitude  of  those  who  would  say  it  was  a  case  of  only 
receive  and  no  give  on  the  part  of  the  immigrant  is  the  attitude 
I  would  like  to  dispel.  It  is  such  people  who  regularly  insult  the 
descendants  of  Michel  Angelo,  Murillo,  Columbus  and  the  thous- 
and other  great  Italians  by  calling  them  "Dagoes".  It  is  such 
people  who  always  call  a  Hebrew  or  Jew  a  "Sheeny",  forgetting 
all  about  the  race  of  Disraeli,  Zangwill,  and  of  the  greatest  Jew 
of  all — Christ.  They  call  a  German  a  "Dutchy",  a  "Sauer- 
kraut" or  a  "Limburger",  never  regarding  the  fact  that  Groethe, 
Frederick  the  Great,  and  Bismarck  belonged  to  the  so-called 
"Limburgers".  When  they  call  a  Bohemian  or  Czech  a  "Bo- 
hunk",  they  never  think  that  John  Huss,  the  religious  reformer 
and  martyr  who  preceded  Luther  by  over  a  century,  Komensky 
or  Comenius,  the  educator,  Dvorak  and  Kubelik,  musicians,  were 
Bohemians  or  Czechs.  To  such  people,  all  Irishmen  are 
"Paddies",  all  Japanese,  "Japs",  all  Chinese  "Pigtails",  and 
so  on,  ad  nauseam.  And  yet  those  very  people  resent,  and 
rightfully,  hearing  Americans  called  "Gringoes"  by  Mexicans, 
or  "pigs"  and  "Americansche  Schweine"  by  Germans. 

The  application  of  such  sneering  or  slang  terms  never  did 
and  never  will  be  an  indication  of  the  American  gentleman  or 
the  American  lady. 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  5 

Justice 

If  we  wish  fair  treatment  for  ourselves,  we  must  first  of  all 
accord  it  to  others.  Emerson  says,  ''If  you  want  friends,  be  a 
friend."  The  burden  of  this  plea  today  is  not  th^t  you  be 
generous  to  the  foreigner,  but  that  something  better  and  finer 
than  generosity  be  accorded  him — and  that  is — justice.  Justice 
is  greater  than  generosity.  We  need  to  be  just  to  him  and  just 
to  America.  We  must  concede,  but  he,  too,  must  be  fair  and  re- 
turn service  for  advantages  gained  in  this  country. 

And  if  today  there  is  a  nation  on  earth  that  possesses  and 
fights  for  the  principles  of  justice  it  is  the  United  States.  It  is 
this  sense  of  justice  that  is  the  real  framework  of  the  bridge 
across  the  Atlantic  and  it  is  sympathy  and  understanding  that 
form  the  approaches  and  props  of  the  spans  of  that  bridge. 

I  have  unmixed  Slavic-Bohemian  blood  in  my  veins  for  at 
least  400  years  back  and  I  suppose,  in  a  way,  am  as  proud  of  it  as 
you  are  that  you  are  descended  from  the  early  defenders  of  the 
American  commonwealth  when  it  was  not  yet  a  nation.  But  I 
am  far  prouder  of  the  fact  that  my  people  chose  this  country, 
these  glorious  United  States,  as  the  place  in  which  to  bring  up 
their  family.  For  it  is  here  that  fair  play,  a  square  deal,  justice, 
is  afforded  to  all. 

Proportion  of  Foreign  Born 

Of  our  population  of  110,000,000,  one  person  out  of  every 
seven  Avas  born  outside  of  the  United  States;  one  out  of  every 
three  was  foreign  born  or  of  foreign  parentage.  In  other  words, 
there  are  over  13,000,000  persons  of  foreign  birth  and  over 
20,000,000  of  foreign  parentage.  Fully  one-third  of  our  total 
population  is  of  foreign  born  stock.  Of  the  3*3,000,000  persons  of 
foreign  birth  or  foreign  stock  in  the  United  States,  31.1%  are 
English  or  Celtic;  28.5%  are  Germanic;  13.3%  are  Latin  or 
Greek;  10.1%  are  Slavic  or  Lettic ;  9%  are  Scandinavian;  7.1% 
are  unclassified;  1%   are  unknown. 

Germany  and  its  political  and  military  leaders  counted  on 
this  very  heterogenity  of  our  population  as  a  source  of  strength 
to  themselves  and  as  a  fertile  field  for  their  disrupting  propa- 
ganda.    They  figured  that  the  conglomeration  which  makes  up 


6  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

America  bad  no  cohesion  and  would  disintegrate  when  attacked. 
Von  Bernhardi  was  cock  sure  that  since  the  Germans,  alone,  of 
our  inhabitants  were  well  organized,  they  would  continue  in 
allegiance  to  Germany  for,  to  such  as  he,  it  was  inconceivable 
that  there*  could  be  any  bonds  to  hold  them  to  America,  which, 
after  all,  is  but  an  accidental  agglomeration  of  races  and  people 
among  whom  no  deliberately  planned  cult  of  nationalism  had 
been  fostered. 

Character  of  Population 

How  America  with  its  lack  of  linguistic  and  racial  homo- 
geneity responded  when  the  test  came  is  the  most  glorious  chap- 
ter in  the  history  of  our  marvelous  nation  of  assimilates.  In 
order  that  the  response  made  might  be  fully  evaluated,  requires 
an  understanding  by  both  the  American  and  the  Americanized  of 
the  immensity  of  the  problem  of  the  unification  of  the  mind  and 
spirit  of  the  population  of  our  land.  It  is  indeed  a  problem  to 
make  Americans  of  these  surging,  ebbing,  responsive,  sullen, 
singing,  cursing,  sorrowing,  carousing,  harmonious,  disputatious 
elements,  some  coming  from  lands  of  liberal  thought  others  from 
age-old  autocracies — all  of  them  with  dreams  of  a  more  or  less 
realisable  Utopia,  which  the  magic  word  ''America"  spells  to 
them.  America  means  to  the  idealist,  the  full  opportunity  to 
express  himself,  free  institutions,  religious  and  political  liberty 
for  self  and  descendants,  whereas  to  the  materialist  it  signifies 
the  attainment  of  individual  ambitions,  economic  advantage, 
escape  from  the  military  and  tax  burdens  of  the  old  world. 

The  immigrant  leaves  behind  intolerance  in  religion,  auto- 
cratic rule,  heavy  burdens  of  government,  a  hard  and  fast  class 
system,  sovoro  military  sorvico.  a  perpetual  struggle  with  pov- 
erty. 

But  has  the  foreigner  crossed  the  bridge  to  America  empty- 
handed?  Is  there  nothing  of  value  that  he  has  brought  that  wil' 
help  in  moulding  him  into  the  ideal  American — real  or  hypotheti- 
cal— whom  we  hav^  set  up  on  a  pedestal  and  want  the  foreigner 
to  imitate  even  if  we  don't  do  it  ourselves?  We  are  often  like 
the  old  school-master  who  said,  "Don't  do  as  T  do.  but  do  as  T 
tell  you  to  do." 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  7 

Walt  Whitman  has  well  said  in  his  poem  ''Pioneers,  Oh 
Pioneers" — 

''AH  the  past  we  leave   behind, 
We  debouch  upon  a  newer,  mightier  world,  varied  world, 
Fresh   and  strong  the  world   we   seize,   world  of  labor 
and  the  march, 

Pioneers,  Oh  Pioneers!" 

The  foreigner  gives  up  forever,  in  most  cases,  all  his  former 
haunts  with  all  the  attendant  sacrifice  and  strikes  out  into  the 
new,  untried  world  of  America. 

Evaluating  the  Foreigner 

What  does  the  foreigner  bring?  First  of  all  he  brings  him- 
self. "But  what  is  that?"  the  restrictionists  and  anti-immigra- 
tionists  among  you  will  say.  It  is  strong,  robust,  perfectly 
healthy,  perfectly  formed  bodies  for  one  thing.  Our  immigra- 
tion laws  keep  out  all  who  are  physically  unfit. 

The  case  of  a  twelve-year-old  flatfooted  boy  who  was  refused 
admission  on  account  of  weak  physique,  though  all  the  rest 
of  the  family  came  in,  is  an  example  of  the  strict  severity  with 
which  the  physically  unfit  are  excluded. 

Another  case  was  that  of  an  Austrian  cavalry  officer  who 
was  debarred  because  of  bow  legs  caused  by  riding  horseback. 
Otherwise  he  was  perfect  physically.  One  wonders  what  would 
happen  if  certain  native  Americans  ever  got  out  of  the  country 
and  liad  to  depend  on  passing  immigration  restrictions  to  get 
back. 

Of  the  males  of  militia  age,  18  to  44  years,  in  the  United 
States  in  1910  the  total  was  20,478,684.  Nebraska's  foreign  born 
population  totalled  176,662  of  whom  102,330  were  males,  but 
not  all  citizens  by  any  means. 

Ten  or  twelve  years  ago  Broughton  Brandenburg,  in  a  work 
entitled  "Imported  Americans",  advocated  keeping  a  card  in- 
dex of  all  foreigners.  His  plan  would  have  averted  many  of  the 
difficulties  which  our  government  encountered  during  1917  and 
1918.     The  text  noted  also  suggested  the  following  valuable  plan : 

"To  the  card-index  system  should  be  added  a  regulation 
compelling  all  aliens  to  report,  at  vp^vuar  intervals,  their  where- 


8  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

abouts  and  pursuits,  to  federal  officials  in  ^federal  judicial  dis- 
tricts, until  such  time  as  they  become  citizens  of  the  country  or 
are  ready  to  depart.  A  most  important  feature  of  this  should  be 
the  indexing  and  tabulation  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
able-bodied  men  Avho  have  had  the  excellent  military  training 
of  the  armies  of  Europe,  and  would,  if  properly  organized,  con- 
stitute a  fine  reserve  force  in  America  of  at  least  2,000,000  men. ' ' 

Immigrants  come  at  the  best  and  most  useful,  most  produc- 
tive age.  The  immigration  laws  keep  out  aged,  infirm  and  those 
likely  to  become  a  public  charge.  In  intrinsic  or  physical  worth 
to  the  United  States,  they  are  a  rich  addition.  An  Italian 
economist  figured  each  able-bodied  man  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
has  cost  the  state  from  $1,500  to  $1,800  to  raise  to  maturity.  At 
that  rate  in  one  year,  say  1907,  the  United  States  was. enriched 
by  $2,040,000,000  at  the  cost  of  the  countries  which  had  brought 
up  these  immigrants  and  without  a  cent  of  expense  to  the  United 
States.  The  great  majority  of  men  of  foreign  birth  had  some 
military  training  before  they  came  to  this  country. 

His  Industrial  Value 

American  economists  figifre  that  the  new  immigrant  labor 
adds  a  billion  dollars  in  value  to  the  industrial  energy  of  th 
country  annually.  This  immigrant  labor  includes  thousands  of 
women.  The  strikes,  the  stringency  in  the  labor  market,  the 
excessive  high  wages  demanded  and  paid  are  traceable  to  the 
lack  or  falling  off  in  immigration  as  well  as  to  the  withdrawal 
into  the  army  of  native  born.  If  your  domestic  help  should 
strike,  you  Avould  have  no  recourse,  for  the  foreign  born  are 
not  coming  in  great  numbers  now.  But  after  the  war,  look  out 
for  a  great  influx,  particularly  of  women.  The  foreign  born 
woman  is  already  affecting  the  industrial  situation  in  this  coun- 
tr3^  She  will  be  ten  times  the  factor  in  industrial  problems  after 
the  war. 

Exploiting  Foreign  Female  Labor 

The  sweating  system  is  not  tried  on  the  American  born 
woman.  It  is  the  foreign  woman  or  girl  who  must  sit  late  into 
the  night  in  a  miserable,  ill-smelling  room  where  the  cooking, 
washing  and  sleeping  is  done,  and  sew  for  starvation  wages  on 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  9 

men's  and  women's  suits,  shirtwaists,  etc.,  in  order  that  a  big 
Christian  ( ?)  department  stores  may  advertise  sales  of  suits  at 
$14.98  and  shirtwaist  bargains  at  69e. 

Thomas  Hood,  writing  in  England,  many  years  ago,  voiced 
the  dirge  which  so  many  thousands  of  our  exploited  for^gn  born 
workers  echo  in 

''THE  SONG  OF  THE  SHIRT'' 

With  fingers  weary  and  worn, 

With  eyelids  heavy  and  red, 
A  woman  sat  in  unwomanly  rags. 

Plying  her  needle  and  thread, 
Stitch!    stiteh!    stitch! 

In  poverty,  hunger  and  dirt, 
And  still  with  a  voice  of  dolorous  pitch, 

She  sang  the  ''Song  of  the  Shirt." 

Oh,  men,  with  sisters  dear ! 

Oh,  men,  with  mothers  and  wives ! 
It  is  not  linen  you're  wearing  out, 

But  human  creatures'  lives! 
Stitch — stitch — stitch. 

In  poverty,  hunger  and  dirt, 
Sewing  at  once  with  a  double  thread, 

A  shroud  as  well  as  a  shirt. 

In  January  of  1916  the  Illinois  Senate  Committee  reported 
that  immorality  among  women  in  cities  was  chiefly  due  to  pov- 
erty. The  lack  of  a  minimum  wage  for  women  and  girls  and  ol! 
regulated  conditions  of  domestic  employment  rendering  the  home 
in  many  cases  a  breeding  place  for  commercialized  vice,  is  what 
causes  so  many  recruits  to  the  underworld. 

The  exploitation  of  labor,  particularly  of  women  and  girls, 
needs  to  be  investigated  as  well  as  the  fate  of  those  thousands 
of  foreign  girls  who  are  annually  lost  enroute  to  their  destina- 
tions. Grace  Abbott's  investigations  showed  that  in  one  year 
nearly  two  thousand  immigrant  girls  who  left  New  York  City 
for  points  in  the  West  never  reached  their  destinations. 

Prom  the  standpoint  of  money  value  of  the  immigrants,  the 
government  reports  show  that  in  1914,  a  normal  year,  there 
were  1,218,480  immigrants  who  brought  with  them  over  $42,553,- 
266.00.     Of  this   amount   the   9,928   Bohemians   who  came    over 


10  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

brought  $404,968.  The  amount  of  head  tax  collected  in  the  year 
ending  June,  1914,  was  $5,092,894.  Of  this  but  $2,645,000  was 
spent  on  the  immigration  bureau.  There  are  now  or  ought  to  be 
in  the  United  States  immigration  fund  at  least  $10,700,000. 

Mental  Equipment  of  Foreigner 

The  immigrants  bring  healthy,  clear  minds.  This  does  not 
necessarily  mean  they  are  literate,  but  they  are  capable  of  being 
taught.  The  immigration  laws  keep  out  the  mentally  deficient 
most  effectively.  Illiteracy  is  a  problem  of  the  first  generation 
only.  The  children  of  foreign  born  parents  show  relatively  less 
illiteracy  than  the  children  of  native  born  parents. 

It  was  an  American  child  in  an  old  community  in  Kentucky 
who,  when  told  that  her  mother  was  calling  her  and  the  other 
children  with  her,  answ^ered:  ''Her  ain't  a  callin'  we,  us  don't 
belong  to  she." 

More  foreign  women  than  men  are  illiterate.  Nebraska  gets 
few  of  the  illiterate  nationalities.  The  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Immigration  reports  that  the  Scandinavians  show  the 
fewest  people  who  cannot  read  or  write,  the  English  and  Bo- 
hemians come  next  in  the  roll  of  honor,  the  Scotch  and  Irish 
third,  the  Germans  about  sixth.  The  South  Italian  shows  heaviest 
illiteracy,  about  60  out  of  every  100  being  unable  to  read  or 
write. 

Moral  Delinquency 

Does  literacy  make  for  morality?  Immigrants  as  a  general 
thing  commit  only  minor  offenses,  crimes  of  ignorance.  The  high 
crimes  are  usually  committed  by  literates,  often  very  well  edu- 
cated. Professor  Paul  Peirce  of  the  State  University  of  Iowa 
says:  "One  must  take  into  account  what  facilities  these  immi- 
grants had  for  learning.  The  3  per  cent  of  literates  from  Germany 
are  not  as  promising  a  proposition  as  the  illiterates  of  Southern 
Europe  because  they  have  had  their  opportunities  and  passed 
them  by,  whereas  the  illiterate  immigrant  from  a  country  where 
reading  and  writing  were  not  easy  to  obtain  may  inako  himself 
a  far  more  valuable  citizen." 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  11 

Real  Culture  of  Foreign  Groups 

On  the  other  hand,  millions  of  immigTants  come  from  lands 
and  nations  whose  culture  is  of  exceedingly  ancient  date.  The 
western  Slavs  are  among  the  earliest  nations  of  Europe  to  be- 
come cultured.  The  first  university  in  central  Europe  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Bohemian  or  Czech  people  in  Prague,  Bohemia, 
in  1348,  fully  fifty  years  before  the  very  first  German  university 
came  into  existence.  The  Polish  people  had  a  fine  university 
established  in  Cracow  as  early  as  1380. 

Komensky  or  Comenius,  the  eminent  educational  reformer, 
who  likeAvise  planned  and  made  the  first  illustrated  school  text- 
book in  the  world,  was  a  Czech.  The  first  regular  newspaper  in 
the  world  was  published  in  Prague  in  1515.  The  first  art  school 
in  central  Europe  was  established  in  Prague,  Bohemia.  The  first 
and  therefore  the  oldest  girls'  school  or  seminary  in  the  United 
States  was  founded  by  members  of  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian 
Brethren  Church,  who  had  fled  to  this  country  to  escape  re- 
ligious persecution.  The  excellent  schools  in  Bethlehem,  Naza- 
reth and  Lititz,  Pennsylvania,  were  all  Moravian  institutions. 
The  first  map  of  the  New  England  colonies  as  they  existed  in 
1630  was  made  by  a  Czech  colonist,  Augustine  Hermann  of  Mary- 
land. 

Some  authoritative  historians  state  that  a  Polak,  Jan  of 
Kolna,  Mazur,  in  command  of  a  Danish  ship,  discovered  America, 
in  the  region  of  Labrador,  in  1476,  preceding  the  Columbian  trip 
by  sixteen  years.  J.  Conway,  in  his  history  of  higher  education 
in  America,  states  this:  "As  early  as  1659  the  Dutch  colonists 
of  Manhattan  Island  hired  a  Polish  school-master  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  youth  of  the  community." 

Political  Freedom 

Formerly  the  foreigner  brought  ideals  of  political  liberty. 
Now,  it  can  truly  be  said  that  the  adherents  of  governments 
which  are  autocratic,  paternalistic  and  imperialistic  in  tendencies 
must  come  to  the  United  States  to  learn  what  is  true  political 
freedom.  But  back  in  1848,  it  was  the  educated  liberals  of 
France,  Germany,  Poland  and  Bohemia  who  brought  democratic 
and   constitutionalist  ideas  here.     From   various   periods   in  our 


12  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

history,  one  can  cull  such  names  as  that  of  the  Frenchman 
Lafayette;  the  Poles,  Pulaski  and  Kosciuszko;  the  Hungarian, 
Kossuth;  the  Bohemian,  Karel  Jonas  (Lieutenant  Governor  of 
Wisconsin  and  founder  of  the  first  Bohemian  paper  in  the 
United  States)  ;  the  German,  Carl  Schurz,  none  of  whom  can 
ever  be  forgotten  by  Americans. 

The  socialistic  Democratic  party  in  Bohemia,  as  elsewhere, 
is  bringing  about  suffrage  for  women.  This  party  elected  a 
woman  to  the  national  parliament — ^Bozena  Vikova  Kuneticka. 
It  was  the  first  instance  in  central  Europe  of  such  progressivism. 
The  Congress  of  the  new  Czechoslovak  Republic  contains  eight 
women  members. 

Habits  Worth  Imitating 

What  else  do  the  foreigners  bring  with  them  as  a  contribu- 
tion to  American  civilization?  They  bring  habits  of  thrift  and. 
economy,  settled,  permanent  attached-to-the-soil  ideals.  Not  the 
shifty  here  today  and  gone  tomorrow,  easy-going  way  of  the 
average  native  of  small  means.  Being  a  tenant  in  rented  quar- 
ters is  not  typical  of  the  average  foreigner. 

In  a  government  investigation  made  by  Jenks  and  Lauck. 
(p.  280),  of  17,628  families,  the  heads  of  which  were  employed 
in  the  principal  divisions  of  mining  and  manufacturing  enter- 
prises, it  was  shown  that  of  1,187  families,  native  born  of  native 
father,  white,  259  (21.8^)  owned  homes;  of  788  families,  native 
born  of  foreign  father,  202  (26.6%)  owned  homes;  of  15,511 
families,  foreign  born  of  native  father,  3,306  (21.6%)  owned 
homes.  (p.  281.)  The  Bohemians  and  Moravians  show  the 
largest  proportion  of  home-owning  families,  of  all  races,  the 
heads  of  which  were  native  born  of  foreign  father,  or  foreign 
born. 

Another  proof  of  the  thrift  of  foreigners  is  shown  by  the 
l)ost  office  department.  Of  $13,000,000  deposited  in  the  postal 
savings  banks  of  New  York  City,  more  than  $11,000,000  are 
owned  by  foreign  born  residents,  the  Russians  having  by  far  the 
largest  total  on  deposit.  The  foreigners  come  over  with  the 
habit   of  using  the   postal   savings   bank  firmly  ingrained.     The 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  IS 

native  American  prefers  to  put  his  money  where  it  is  not  so 
safe,  but  where  it  will  draw  big  interest. 

A  certain  class  of  native  born  are  much  like  Rastus  Johnson 
and  his  family  who  had  received  plentifully  of  charity,  even  to 
outfitting  the  house  with  a  coal  burning  stove.  One  hot  July 
afternoon  Rastus  and  his  family  of  nine  started  out  all  togged 
out  in  their  best.  One  of  their  benefactors  happened  to  meet 
them  on  the  road.  "Well,  Uncle  Rastus,  where  are  you  going,  all 
dressed  up?"  "Well,  boss,  doan'  you  know  the  circus  am  come 
to  town?  We  done  sor  the  heatin'  stove  you  gave  us  'cause 
winter  am  fur  off,  but  de  circus  am  here." 

There  are  people,  you  know,  who  move  every  time  the  rent 
comes  due.  It  is  a  fact  that  there  are  thousands  in  this  country 
who  mortgage  their  farms  and  dwellings  in  order  that  automo- 
biles may  be  bought.  Rarely  does  the  foreigner  risk  the  loss  of 
a  necessity  for  a  luxury  or  pleasure. 

S.  W.  Strauss  states  in  "Leslie's":  "In  the  United  States 
66  out  of  every  100  people  that  die  leave  no  estate  whatever. 
At  the  age  of  65,  97  out  of  every  100  in  America  are  partly  or 
wholly  dependent  upon  relatives  or  the  public  for  their  daily 
bread,  clothing  and  the  roof  under  w^hich  they  sleep.  According 
to  government  statistics,  98%  of  the  American  people  are  living 
from  day  to  day  on  their  wages;  a  loss  of  employment  would 
mean  pauperism  for  all  but  2%." 

It  is  not  the  immigrants  who  are  filling  our  poor  houses.  It 
is  often  erroneously  stated  that  Europe  dumps  the  inmates  of  its 
poor  houses  into  our  homes  for  paupers.  This  is  untrue.  The 
great  majority  of  the  foreign  born  in  our  poor  houses  have  been 
in  America  from  ten  to  twenty  years  before  they  were  forced  into 
homes  of  dependency.  The  Irish,  who  were  most  prominently 
represented  of  any  foreign  born  people,  are  notably  given  to  liv- 
ing in  the  present,  generous  in  a  degree  detrimental  to  them- 
selves, but  fail  to  provide  for  the  inevitable  rainy  day. 

Support  of  Liberty  Loans 

A  most  enlightening  commentary  on  the  response  of  various 
nationalities  in  the  United  States  to  the  Liberty  Loan  is  shown  in 
the  report  of  the  Treasury  Department  on  "The  Foreign  Ele- 


14  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

ment  in  the  Third  Liberty  Loan."    This  is  based  on  a  Report  of 
the  Foreigrn  Language  Division  of  Federal  Reserve  Districts. 

The  records  in  the  Third  Liberty  Loan  of  the  various  na- 
tionalities are  significant  only  in  so  far  as  they  show  a  relation- 
ship between  the  representation  of  €aeh  linguistic  group  in  our 
population  and  their  proportionate  or  disproportionate  percentage 
response  to  the  loan.  In  column  1  is  seen  the  percentage  in  the 
foreign  population  of  certain  leading  groups  of  our  immigrants 
and  in  column  2  the  actual  number  of  each  and  in  column  3  the 
amount  each  group  subscribed  to  the  Third  Loan.  The  total 
amount  subscribed  by  Americans  of  foreign  descent  is  $741,- 
437,000.  It  is  estimated  that  this  amount  was  subscribed  by 
7,061,305  individuals  which  represented  41%^  of  the  total 
number  of  subscribers. 

Foreign  Group 

Percent  in  Foreign 

Population 
Scandinavians — 

Swedish 4.5 


Norwegians 3.1 

Danes 1.4 

Latin  and  Greek — 

Italians 6.7 

Greeks  0,4 

French  4.2 

Portuguese   0.4 

Koumanian  0.2 

Slavic  and  Lettic^- 

Polish  5.3 

Bohemian  (Czechs)  1.7 

Bulgarian    0.1 

Slovenian    0.6 

Russian   : 0.3 

Ukrainian-Ruthenian   0.1 

Serbian    0.1 

Croatian    0.3. 

Lithuanian-Lettish 0.7 

Oermanic — 

German   28.5 

Dutch-Frisian 1.0 

Flemish   0.1 


Bonds 

Number 

Taken 

1,445,869 

$6,011,600 

1,009,854 

.5,987,550 

446,473 

2,353,950 

2,151,422 

52,247,350 

130,379 

6.638,700 

1,357,169 

2,107,850 

141,268 

1,711,150 

51,124 

272,100 

1,707,040 

37,583,700 

539,392 

31,750,550 

19,320 

2,100 

183,431 

1.569,900 

95,137 

2,599,600 

35,359 

129,500 

26,752 

142,150 

93,036 

153,900 

211,235 

4,374,500 

8,817,271 

87,295,000 

324,930 

80,200 

44.806 

875.000 

PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  15 

The  Americanization  of  our  so-called  iforeign  elemtent  is 
more  nearly  accomplished  than  that  of  certain  groups  of  the 
native  born.  Shortly  after  the  first  Liberty  Loan  drive  began,  in 
the  home  of  a  certain  fashionable  woman  of  Nebraska,  this  in- 
cident was  related.  A  Bohemian  woman  who  lived  on  a  farm 
in  a  certain  western  county  of  the  state  where '  there  had  been 
drouths,  had  succeeded  after  four  years  in  saving  sixty  dollars 
from  her  egg  and  poultry  money,  to  buy  herself  a  much-needed 
outfit  of  a  dress,  coat,  hat  and  shoes.  When  the  Loan  wa^  an- 
nounced urging  everyone  to  support  the  government  against  the 
Central  Powers,  this  poor  woman  who  had  known  all  too  well 
what  it  meant  to  live  under  the  hated  yoke^  of  the  Hapsburgs 
and  who  realized  keenly  the  need  of  opposing  so  cruel  and  in- 
triguing a  power  said  in  broken  English,  ' '  Our  America  she  n6ed 
my  sixty  dollar  more  than  I  need  new  dress.  I  buy  Liberty 
Bond  and  help  America  fight  Austria  in  my  same  dress."'  When 
the  sacrifice  of  this  woman,  who  as  much  as  any  other  woman 
longed  to  be  well  dressed,  was  related  to  the  group,  there  was  a 
momentary  silence.  Not  one  of  those  women  had  even  made 
the  shadow  of  a  sacrifice  in  subscribing  for  bonds  or  for  war 
activities.  All  had  given  from  their  abundance  or  "spare' 'iPuhds 
and  they  felt  the  challenge  of  the  Bohemian  farmer  woman's 
sacrifice.  All  but  one.  She  was  the  hostess,  the  daughter  of  suc- 
cessive daughters  of  the  early  colonial  period,  America:^  '  bred 
and  born  for  generations.  And  this  was  her  comment  on  the 
sacrifice  made  by  the  farm  woman,  in  giving  up  her  dreamed  of 
gown  :  "  My !  How  dowdy  that  woman  must  have  looked  in  her 
old  duds."  It  is  true,  alas,  that  Americanization,  like  charity, 
must  in  many  cases  begin  at  home.  '"' 

There  are  still  a  few  self-satisfied  native  flag  flaunters  .wJio 
haven't  caught  the  spirit  or  the  meaning  of  Americanism,  but 
they  are  loud  in  their  denunciation  of  the  ''ignorant  foreigner" 
who  is  AVilling  to  stake  his  last  dollar  in  backing  Uncle  S,am.'s 
cause,  for  they,  the  ignorant  (?),  understand  the  significance  qf 
that  cause  far  better  than  milady  of  Revolutionary  ancestry  or 
even  the  man  on  the  street. 

The  immigrant  brings  with  him  habits  of  sticktoativeneSs — 
indomitable  courage,    grit.     The    early    foreigners    of    Nebraska 


16  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

stayed  here  through  drouths,  grasshopper  plagues,  scourges  of  all 
kinds.  They  had  no  relatives  ' '  back  east "  to  go  to,  as  did  the 
native  Americans.     They  had  to  stay  and  plug  it  out. 

The  immigrant  brings  habits  of  cleanliness,  as  a  rule.  Cer- 
tain nationalities,  to  be  sure,  have  a  larger  measure  of  these 
than  do  others.  All  of  them,  however,  have  ideas  of  municipal 
cleanliness,  for  in  Europe  cities  do  much  of  the  cleaning  that  is 
here  left  for  individuals  to  carry  out.  T'he  dirt  and  filth  and 
snow  banks  in  most  of  our  city  streets  and  alleys  would  never  be 
tolerated  in  the  majority  of  European  communities. 

Italian  and  Polish  women  have  come  to  Jane  Addams  in 
Hull  House  to  ask  for  municipal  wash-houses.  They  said  quite 
truly  that  the  kitchen  of  a  tiny  tenement  is  no  place  to  wash. 
Russian  women  have  come  to  urge  the  securing  of  covered 
markets.  Even  in  the  ghettoes  of  Russia,  food  is  not  allowed  to 
be  exposed  to  dust  and  dirt  as  it  is  in  almost  any  city  in  the 
United  States. 

Feeling  for  Beauty 

The  immigrant  brings  his  wealth  of  traditional  folk  lore 
and  his  native  songs  and  stories.  His  vivid  and  colorful  imagina- 
tion added  to  the  practical  character  of  the  American  mind  can 
and  must  produce  wonderful  returns  in  the  native  literature  of 
this  country. 

The  foreigner  unconsciously  is  influencing  our  literature  and 
thus  helping  to  bridge  the  Atlantic.  Writers  of  some  of  the  best 
American  stories,  novels,  and  dramas,  have  been  influenced  by 
the  force  and  value  of  immigrant  types  present  in  this  civiliza- 
tion. Examples  of  these  are:  Israel  Zangwill's  "The  Melting 
Pot";  Jacob  Riis,  ''How  The  Other  Half  Lives",  Edward  A. 
Steiner,  ''Immigrant  Tide",  etc.;  Willa  Sibert  Gather,  "0!  Pio- 
neers" and  "My  Antonia". 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  great  or  typical  American  novel 
which  literary  critics  have  been  writing  about  for  years  will 
have  for  its  theme,  the  Immigrant,  the  New  American. 

The  immigrant's  feeling  for  beauty  of  the  visible  or  audible 
sort  is  an  asset  we  can  hardly  evaluate  in  cold  hard  dollars  and 
cents, — the   spirituality,   the   idealism,   the   devotion   and   rever- 


PROBLEMS  AND   METHODS   OF  AMERICANIZATION  17 

ence,  the  love  of  art  and  of  music  of  the  foreigner  are  necessary 
to  make  less  sordid  the  merely  materialistic  prosperity  of 
America.  These  inestimable  contributions  should  not  be  crushed 
out  in  our  effort  to  remake  the  immigrant,  to  shape  him,  over- 
night, so  to  speak,  in  the  form  of  the  kind  of  American  who  gets 
spoiled  in  the  making.  If,  as  Rev.  Sehauffler  said,  ''American 
wages  are  the  honey-pot  that  draws  the  bees,"  we  must  not 
stamp  out  those  things  in  the  foreigner  which  would  make  him 
only  a  beneficiary  and  in  no  degree  a  benefactor  of  the  country 
which  offers  him  economic  profit. 

In  remaking  the  foreigner  it  is  wise  to  recall  Omar 
Khayyam's  warning  in  Stanza  XXXVII  of  his  Rubaiyat: 

For  I  remember  stopping  by  the  way 

To  watch  a  Potter  thumping  his  wet  clay 

And  with  its  all  obliterated  Tongue 

It  murmured,  ''Gently,  brother,  gently.  Pray." 

It  ought  to  be  on  the  conscience  of  Americans  who  have  com- 
mercialized or  industrialized  the  foreign  born  men  and  women  of 
art  instincts  and  art  aptitudes  and  abilities.  They  have  marred 
in  the  making  many  and  many  "luckless  pots". 

A  certain  prolific  writer  and  lecturer  of  wide  renown  today, 
but  for  a  more  gentle  "Potter"  might  still  have  been  a  coal 
miner  in  Illinois,  Victor  D.  Brenner,  designer  of  the  Lincoln  one- 
cent  coin  and  now  famous  sculptor,  might  still  have  been  digging 
ditches  just  as  he  did  for  a  long  time  after  he  arrived  from 
Russia. 

Some  American  wit  has  said,  "A  grape  fruit  is  a  lemon  that 
has  had  a  chance."  It  isn't  American  to  withhold  that  chance 
from  any  growing  thing ;  why  deny  it  to  the  foreigner  who  grows 
mentally  and  in  worldly  development  by  leaps  and  bounds  from 
the  instant  the  boat  he  comes  in  on  sights  the  shores  of  "The 
American  Continent  ? ' ' 

The  foreigner's  respect  for  age  and  for  parental  and  gov- 
ernmental authority  is  another  characteristic  valuable  enough  to 
be  imitated  without  evil  results  by  certain  of  our  American 
young  people.  Mary  E.  McDowell  very  pertinently  says,  "The 
too  rapid  Americanization  of  the  children  of  foreign  bom  parents 


18  BRIDGING   THE  ATLANTIC 

in  the  United  States  into  pert  young  people  without  respect  for 
authority  is  a  dangerous  problem/' 

•  Religious  Freedom. 

The  immigrant  has  brought  with  him  ideals  of  religious  lib- 
erty. It  was  ideals  of  that  character  which  in  1620  actuated  the 
Puritans  to  leave  England,  the  Huguenots  to  fly  from  France,  the 
Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren  to  escape  their  persecutors 
and  flee  to  America.  These  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren 
organized  the  first  and  therefore  the  oldest  girls'  seminary  in  the 
United  States,  in  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  and  the-y,  too, 
founded  the  famous  old  Linden  Hall  and  other  classical  schools  in 
Nazareth  and  Lititz,  Pennsylvania. 

Later  it  was  the  Jews  flying  from  Russia,  the  Armenians  es- 
caping the  bloood- thirsty  Turks,  who  sought  refuge  here. 

Of  Nebraska's  foreign  element,  the  majority  of  the  Ger- 
mans and  Scandinavians  are  Lutherans,  whereas  the  Poles  and 
many  of  the  Czechs  and  Slovaks  are  Roman  Catholics.  There 
are  also  Protestants  and  ''Liberals"  among  these  latter  two 
groups,  even  some  ''free  thinkers".  But  it  is  eminently  unjust 
to  treat  the  foreigner  as  if  he  were  a  heathen  and  to  regard  all 
work  done  among  immigrants  as  of  a  missionary  nature.  White 
foreigners  come  from  Christian  and  even  ultra-religious  countries. 
The  Czechs  produced  the  marytr  John  Huss,  who  was  the  fore- 
runner of  Luther  by  over  110  years.  Before  Huss,  they  gave  us 
the  world  Peter  Cheleicky,  from  whom  Count  Leo  Tolstoy  claims 
to  have  gotten  his  ideas  for  simplicity  in  religious  beliefs,  also 
liis  principles  of  non-resistance.  The  Czechs  were  the  first  nation 
of  Europe  to  dare  to  place  on  their  throne  a  Protestant  Kiii<>'. 
(ieorge  of  Podebrad. 

Mistakes  of  Missionaries 

All  too  frequently  missionaries,  colporteurs  with  good 
enough  intentions  doubtless,  but  minus  tact  and  knowledge  o;- 
the  people  they  are  attempting  to  serve,  invade  the  homes  of 
foreigners  with  centuries  of  religious  belief  behind  them  and  t;jlk 
''religion"  to  them  or  distribute  tracts  among  them.  In  nine 
eases  out  of  ten.  it  isn't  tracts  or  talk  of  any  sort  that  is  ^leede'l. 


PROBLEMS  AND   METHODS   OF  AMERICANIZATION  19 

but  a  job  for  the  father,  pure  milk  for  the  baby  and  decen^riiving 
quarters  for  the  whole  family.  The  assumption  of  the  *' charity 
worker"  or  ''friendly  visitor"  of  some  religious  denomination, 
that  the  immigrant  family  is  Godless,  is  rightfully  resented  as 
presumption  by  the  struggling,  but  defenseless  recipients  of 
such  tactless  "calls".  Altogether  too  many  so-called  social 
workers  assume  that  poverty  implies  lack  of  religion.  I  have 
seen  situations  in  which  the  immigrant  victims  of  tract  and  ser- 
monette  distributors  required  a  lot  of  Christian  forbearance  to 
refrain  from  an  instant  eviction  of  the  '^ missionary"  offenders. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  "friendly  visitor"  who  is  trained  intelli- 
gently and  blessed  with  good  sense  as  well  as  sympathy  can  and 
does  give  inestimable  help  to  the  cause  of  religion  as  well  as 
Americanization. 

The  American  church  has  not,  until  recently,  lost  its  in- 
difference to  the  immigrants,  whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
churches  conducted  in  foreign  tongues  have  assiduously  culti- 
vated him.  It  has  been  little  wonder  that  some  communities  in 
the  United  States  remained  German  to  the  core  when  each  gen- 
eration was  trained,  more  or  less  exclusively  in  that  tongue,  in 
youth  in  the  parochial  schools,  in  maturity  hearing  only  services 
in  that  language  and  seldom  or  never  coming  in  contact  with 
English-speaking  people  of  the  same  or  allied  religious  faith. 
This  condition  existed  in  Nebraska,  Minnesota  and  other  states 
prior  to  the  effective  Americanization  campaign  of  their  respec- 
tive Councils  of  Defense.  The  churches  conducted  in  foreign 
tongues  must  be  appealed  to  to  aid  the  native  church  in  building 
the  bridge  from  Europe  to  America,  over  which  our  coming  citi- 
zens must  cross.  There  need  be  no  loss  spiritually  to  the  devout 
who  have  worshipped  in  other  tongues.  God  hears  the  English 
prayer  fully  as  well  as  that  breathed  in  German  or  any  other 
tongue.  Religions  must  not  be  used  in  America  as  a  cloak  for 
propaganda  conducted  in  a  tongue  alien  to  the  interests  of 
American  democrac}^  Also,  it  is  not  rare  that  a  minister  trained 
in  some  other  language  fosters  it  to  the  exclusion  of  English  to 
make  his  own  position  secure  with  his  congregation.  Certain 
sects  are  maintaining  foreign  speaking  preachers  who  misrepre- 
sent their  own  people,  claiming  they  are  in  need  of  missionary 


20  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

work  done  in  a  non-English  tongue  when  their  congregation 
could  as  well  be  reached  in  English. 

Julian  Warne  severely  criticizes  the  foreigners  in  the  an- 
thracite coal  regions  of  Pennsylvania  for  holding  celebrations 
and  funerals  on  Sunday.  It  would  truly  be  convenient  to  order 
one 's  death  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  Sunday  School.  To  harass 
the  feelings  of  the  non- working  people  by  witnessing  a  miner's 
funeral  appears  to  be  regarded  as  almost  a  crime. 

One  recalls  the  incident  of  an  undertaker  who  called  at  the 
home  of  a  man  in  whose  family  some  one  was  always  dying,  A 
little  girl  met  the  undertaker  at  the  door  and  said,  "If  you  want 
to  know  when  the  funeral  is,  don't  bother  any  further.  Pa  al- 
ways buries  us  at  two  o'clock." 

Children  of  Foreigners  Most  Potential  Contribution 

The  foreigners  bring  their  children — raw  material  to  be 
sure,  but  with  what  splendid  possibilities — to  be  developed  into 
the  best  we  desire  to  have.  These  children  must  not  be  taught 
to  look  down  upon  their  parents  and  the  country  from  which 
they  came.  The  most  successful  settlement  workers  ure  those 
who  preserve  and  do  honor  to  the  beautiful  customs  and  tradi- 
tions of  the  various  nationalities  represented  in  the  district. 

It  makes  little  difference  whether  Johnnie  is  of  Scandi- 
navian, Czech,  Polish,  German  or  other  parentage,  the  ideal  of  his 
people  is  to  give  him  the  best  future  possible,  just  as  it  is  the 
ideal  of  purely  American  parents  for  their  own  offspring. 

The  average  American  woman  may  have  had  a  great  many 
more  advantages  than  her  foreign  born  sister,  but  she  cannot 
.uet  away  from  the  fact  that  they  are  both  of  much  the  same 
clay  after  all  and  have  practically  the  same  interests.  Kip]in<i' 
wrote  with  understanding  when  he  said: 

''For  the  Colonel's  lady  and  Judy  O'Grady 
Are  sisters  under  their  skins." 

Schools  Most  Potent  Agency 

Provide  schools  for  their  children  with  sympathetic,  under- 
standing teachers — not  the  sort  so  full  of  overweaning,  smug 
American  spread-eagle  self-esteem  that  they  cannot  see  any  good 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  21 

in  any  other  nation  but  this.  Herbert  A.  Miller,  in  "The  School 
and  the  Immigrant",  says:  ''The  success  of  the  teacher  in 
dealing  with  foreign  children  depends  in  no  small  measure  on 
her  personal  relations  with  them.  In  order  that  the  most  effec- 
tive work  may  be  done,  it  is  essential  that  the  teacher  should 
know  something  of  the  history  and  the  characteristics  of  the 
different  national  groups." 

At  the  same  time  the  necessity  of  teaching  English — thor- 
oughly and  sedulously — in  every  public  and  private  school  must 
be  insisted  on.  Some  of  the  states  have  no  laws  giving  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  jurisdiction  over  the  cur- 
riculum of  private  institutions  of  learning  and  he  is  thus  handi- 
capped in  efforts  to  carry  out  an  Americanization  program  among 
the  most  susceptible  of  our  population — the  youth  of  the  land. 
This  condition  is  notably  true  in  Nebraska  and  certain  other 
middle  west  states  in  which  ensuing  legislatures  hope  to  remedy 
this  defect.  The  standardization  of  English  requirements  in  our 
schools,  private,  parochial  as  well  as  public,  and  the  empowering 
of  public  officers  to  enforce  this  program  must  be  insisted  on  by 
those  who  have  sincerely  at  heart  the  Americanization  of  the 
second  and  third  generation  of  immigrants'  descendants.  Such 
a  program  would  not  preclude  the  attainment  of  the  modern 
languages  by  students,  but  it  would  make  sure  that  all  have 
had  an  equal  opportunity  to  learn  the  language  of  our  country 
and  through  this  powerful  medium  have  access  to  all  that  the 
English  language  offers  of  instruction  in  Americanization.  This 
program  would  make  impossible  such  conditions  as  those  ob- 
taining in  Minnesota  where  190  private  schools  were  conducted 
wholly  in  German  and  the  situation  in  Nebraska  where  in  some 
schools  the  American  national  hymn  had  never  been  sung  or  the 
American  flag  never  had  been  seen,  but,  on  the  contrary. 
''Deutschland  uber  alles"  had  been  the  favorite  tune. 

Newspapers 

The  purging  of  foreign  language  publications  of  all  anti- 
American  propaganda  and  the  inauguration  of  a  program  en- 
couraging assimilation  would  make  the  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines issued  in  some  other  language  than  English  valuable  agen- 


22  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

cies  in  bringing  about  the  American  nationalization  of  tlie  alien 
population.  High  class  foreign  publications  whose  American  loy- 
alty is  undoubted  could  well  be  used  together  with  the  best  of 
American  magazines  and  papers  in  libraries,  reading  rooms,  set- 
tlement houses,  industrial  workers'  welfare  quarters,  and  labor 
union  stations. 

Living  Quarters 

Provide  clean  dwellings  to  be  rented  out  to  the  foreigner. 
Nothing  Americanizes  and  gives  a  sense  of  self-respect  to  any 
individual,  alien  or  otherwise,  as  to  have  clean  clothes  and  to 
occupy  clean,  respectable  quarters  in  a  decently  kept  part  of  the 
city.  How  can  we  expect  Mexicans,  Italians,  Greeks,  living  in 
discarded  freight  cars  along  a  railroad  line  where  they  never 
come  in  touch  with  the  American  housewife 's  standards  of  clean- 
liness, to  live  up  to  that  standard?  Jack  London  asks  fairly 
enough,  ''Can  you  feed  or  house  a  man  worse  than  a  dog  is 
fed  and  housed  and  expect  him  to  react  like  a  man?"  In  50% 
of  the  eases,  it  is  not  the  foreigner  who  is  to  blame  for  the  exist- 
ence of  the  filthy  hovels  in  which  lie  is  compelled  to  live.  Very 
often  these  vicious  dens  are  owned  by  hypocritical  church  mem- 
bers who  exact  a  rental  high  enough  to  entitle  the  inmates  of 
the  house  to  a  really  decent  abode.  But — it's  for  foreigners — 
so  no  attempt  is  made  by  said  "honorable  citizen"  to  improve 
or  make  liveable  the  quarters  of  the  immigrant.  For  my  own 
collection  I  have  taken  dozens  of  kodak  views  of  miners'  huts 
in  Pennsylvania,  cheap  tenements  in  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Cleveland,  Chicago,  Omaha  and  other  places  nearer  home, 
owned  by  suave  gentlemen  who  subscribe  to  foreign  missions, 
but  who  absolutely  refuse  to  spend  a  dollar  to  mend  a  leak  in 
the  roof  or  put  a  coat  of  paint  on  a  bleak,  rickety  tenement  in 
which  so-called  "Greenhorn"  foreigners  live. 

Decent  Wages 

Give  a  living  wage  to  foreigners  for  work  well  done.  Don't 
*iive  them  something  for  nothing  any  more  than  you  would  to  a 
native  American,  "Justice  is  greater  than  generosity."  It  is 
not    necessary   to   do  any  sentimental    gushing   or   gooing    over 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  23 

them.  As  a  rule,  they  he  a  sensible  earnest  lot  and  cannot  un- 
derstand or  else  they  resent  mawkish  sentimentality.  Friendly 
sympathetic  interest  is  welcome.  They  can  all  understand  that, 
old  and  young,  rich  or  poor.  I  recall  my  first  day  in  an  Ameri- 
can public  school.  I  did  not  understand  a  word  the  teacher  said, 
but  when  she  came  to  me  and  smiled  at  me  and  patted  my 
cheek  and  put  her  hand  softly  around  me,  I  understood  fully 
and  completely.  I  then  and  there  resolved  to  do  anything  on 
earth  for  her.  Everyone  understands  the  language  of  friendli- 
ness and  sympathy ;  we  need  no  dictionaries  or  interpreters  for 
those  two  qualities. 

Just  a  littie  kindly  interest  is  a  wonderful  cement  for  society 
—especially  when  the  foreign  born  and  the  native  born  are  to  be 
welded  together. 

There  are  annually  from  15,000  to  30,000  suicides  in  the 
United  States — large  numbers  of  them  foreigners.  Many,  to  be 
sure,  are  ill  mentally  or  physically  when  they  destroy  their 
own  lives,  but  many  could  have  been  saved,  had  just  a  little  bit 
of  sympathy  been  extended  to  them  when  the  fit  of  despondency 
was  on.  We  all  get  the  so-called  ''blue  devils"  at  times,  but  if 
there  are  friends  and  relatives  about,  how  soon  the  clouds  are 
dispelled.  Yet  a  lonely,  discouraged  foreigner  in  a  strange  land 
is  usually  left  to  shift  for  himself. 

Night  Schools 

Provide  night  schools  with  competent,  sensible,  practical  iji- 
struction.  Not  the  sort  where  mature  men  and  women  of  foreign 
nationality,  eager  to  learn  a  little  useful  English,  drudge  through 
such  senseless  drivel  as  this  which  was  reported  in  an  Eastern 
night  school:  ''I  am  a  little  yellow  birdie.  I  can  sing.  I  can 
fly.  Shall  I  twitter  to  you?"  In  another  school  this  brilliant 
gem  was  drilled  into  the  foreigners:  "I  see  the  moon,  the  moon 
sees  me:  God  bless  the  moon,  God  bless  me." 

Teach  English  all  the  time,  good,  practical,  every-day  Eng- 
lish, but  please  don't  imagine  even  a  foreigner  has  any  use  in 
his  vocabulary  for  yellow  twittering  birdies  and  moonies  that 
God  blesses. 


24  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

In  another  night  school  the  students  were  memorizing  para- 
graphs of  the  ancient  history  of  Egypt,  when  not  one  knew  even 
the  name  of  the  bordering  states  and  only  two  could  name  the 
state  in  which  they  were  attending  school.  Two  knew  the 
name  of  the  president,  none  had  even  heard  there  was  a  gov- 
ernor. Provide  citizenship  classes  for  the  benefit  of  aliens  de- 
sirous of  securing  naturalization  papers.  These  are  the  most  im- 
portant classes  of  all  and  should  be  conducted  at  all  times,  not 
merely  just  before  an  election.  Employers  are  everywhere  find- 
ing it  possible  and  feasible  to  establish  English  classes  for  for- 
eigners whose  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  language  makes  ex- 
pensive accidents  frequent  in  industrial  plants.  Such  employers 
could  go  one  step  farther  and  see  to  it  that  the  basis  for  a  sound 
understanding  of  the  privileges  and  responsibilities  of  sound  citi- 
zenship be  taught.  Then  there  would  never  be  such  a  meager 
conception  of  what  citizenship  involves  as  was  displayed  in  the 
case  of  a  certain  Irishman  who  applied  in  Illinois  for  his  first 
papers.     The  judge  asked  him : 

''Have  you  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence?" 

"No,  Sorr,"  answered  Pat. 

''Have  you  read  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States?" 

"No,  Sorr,"  again  was  the  answer. 

"Well,  then,  what  have  you  read?"  queried  the  judge. 

"I  have  red  hairs  on  me  neck,  Sorr,"  calmly  replied  Pat. 

A  few  elementary  lessons  in  citizenship  would  not  hurt  Pat 
and  thousands  more  like  him  who  apply  for  "papers",  and  the 
sacred  privilege  of  suffrage. 

The  foreign  born  women  also  must  be  helped  in  this  respect. 
Most  of  our  foreign  born  women  belong  to  some  organization,  in 
most  cases  an  association  with  insurance  features,  and  are  good 
at  "getting  up"  movements.  If  some  attempt  is  made  to  come 
in  touch  with  them,  they  will  respond.  Of  course,  one  must  not 
approach  them  with  the  air,  "Now  I'm  going  to  do  you  an  im- 
mense favor.  I'm  above  you,  but  I'm  going  to  overlook  it  this 
time  and  condescend  to  your  level."  I  always  recall  a  passage 
from  Henry  David  Thoreau,  the  American  philosopher,  who  once 
wrote  that  if  he  knew  someone  were  coming  to  do  him  a  favor 
he  would  run  to  the  very  end  of  the  world  to  avoid  being  made 
the  victim  of  such  a  consciously  good  deed. 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  25 

The  lack  of  success  attained  in  reaching  the  foreigners  is 
accounted  for  by  just  that  attitude.  A  fashionable  woman  who, 
because  she  had  time  and  an  automobile,  had  been  appointed  on 
an  Americanization  committee  by  the  mayor,  said  in  my  pres- 
ence :  ' '  Well,  dear  me,  this  morning,  I  must  go  down  again  to  see 
those  people  I'm  Americanizing.  They're  just  too  stupid  to  ap- 
preciate what  I'm  doing  for  them." 

''Groing  down  to  those  people"  is  the  whole  secret  of  the 
numerous  failures  of  untrained  *'Americanizers(?) " 

The  women  of  Czech  blood  of  the  United  States  have  several 
important  benevolent  insurance  organizations,  among  them  be- 
ing the  Jednota  Ceskych  Dam,  with  27,000  members ;  the  S.  P.  J., 
with  30,000,  etc.  The  Polish,  Slovak,  Croatian  and  German 
women  have  similar  organizations.  Most  of  the  Scandinavian  or- 
ganizations are  affiliated  with  churches.  From  active  member- 
ship in  the  Czech  federations  I  know  that  the  American  National 
Hymn  is  the  opening  song  in  the  lodge  meetings.  And  the  mem- 
bers always  show  homage  by  arising. 

One  can  secure  the  co-operation  of  these  organizations  for 
public  undertakings  for  it  has  been  done  again  and  again.  At 
the  Community  Christmas  tree  program  in  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa, 
hundreds  of  women  joined  the  native  born  club  women  in  sew- 
ing sacks  of  candy,  nuts  and  oranges  and  helped  as  well  in  can- 
vassing the  merchants  for  the  supplies.  At  the  semi-centennial 
celebration,  in  planning  for  school  gardens,  in  hospital  donations, 
in  charity  organization  work,  they  assisted.  Not  all  of  them,  to 
be  sure,  but  a  sufficient  number  to  insure  an  increase  of  interest 
next  time  on  the  part  of  others. 

In  Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  largest  Red  Cross  chapter  is  made  up 
of  Czech  women  who  have  turned  over  immense  quantities  of 
supplies  and  entered  heartily  into  every  community  undertaking 
having  for  its  purpose  the  preservation  of  American  unified 
spirit  against  the  disrupting  propaganda  of  Teutonism. 

Another  way  of  bridging  the  Atlantic  is  through  community 
singing,  which  is  an  excellent  means  of  reaching  and  holding  the 
foreigner  in  united  interest.  Singing  with  your  neighbor,  hold- 
ing a  song  book  with  a  perfect  stranger  who  is  singing  the  same 
song  you  are — these  are  the  means  of  establishing  a  closer  un- 
derstanding   and    a    deeper   sympathy    in    matters  of   far    more 


26  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

moment  than  the  mere  physical  act  of  singing  America,  The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,  Auld  Lang  Syne,  Swanee  River,  Old  Kentucky 
Home. 

Mediums  of  sympathetic  co-operation  with  foreign  born 
women  are  offered  at  county  fairs,  baby  week  exhibits,  clean-up 
days.  Women  whose  sons,  brothers  and  husbands  went  to  war 
fraternized  in  preparing  needs  for  soldiers  at  the  front  or  in 
camps,  in  the  civilian  relief  departments  of  welfare  and  war  or- 
.o:anization,  in  learning  how  to  conserve  and  can  foods,  in  organ- 
izing War  Savings  Clubs,  Parent  Day  Programs  at  schools  and 
neighborhood  houses.  Clubs  could  extend  invitations  to  foreign 
women  to  their  open  meetings  and  could  remember  in  other  ways 
their  sisters  with  fewer  advantages.  There  are  too  many  inci- 
dents like  that  of  the  woman  whose  baby  died  and  to  whom  a 
teacher  in  a  local  school  brought  flowers— the  gift  of  the  school 
children.  The  woman  at  first  clung  to  the  flowers  which  were 
to  ornament  the  coffin  of  her  dear  one.  Then  she  thrust  all  but 
one  flower  back  and  said,  ''Take  the  roses  to  Mrs.  Kozminsky 
across  the  alley;  her  baby  ain't  dead  yet." 

The  mingling  of  men  of  foreign  stock  with  those  of  native 
blood  has  been  accomplished  in  a  thoroughly  democratic  way  in 
the  ranks  of  our  army  of  four  million  men.  No  single  agency  in 
the  last  half  century  has  done  as  much  as  the  United  States  Army 
to  bring  men  of  distinctively  American  ideals  in  close  touch 
with  those  of  foreign  birth  or  blood.  That  all  the  patriots  in 
the  American  Army  who  fell  for  the  cause  of  justice  were  not  of 
native  ancestry  is  proven  by  the  names  in  the  casualty  lists  which 
show  M  startingly  large  percentage  of  men  of  foreign  stock.  It 
will  he  a  tremendously  interesting  study  to  note  that  certain 
fjToups  of  foreigners  gave  heavily  of  men  who  enlisted  long  be- 
fore the  draft  law  became  effective. 

The  working  together  of  these  tens  of  thousands  of  men  in  a 
I'ommon  cause  against  a  common  enemy  has  served  better  than 
any  other  one  medium  in  unifying  the  spirit  of  America.  The 
preliminaries  to  a  genuine  and  effective  Americanization  have 
been  accomplished.  Our  soldiers  have  "bridged  the  Atlantic"  not 
only  in  fact,  but  in  the  theoretic  and  symbolic  sense.  Our  sol- 
diers returning  will  understand  much  better  of  how  the  other 
half  lives  and  what  they  have  to  offer  to  our  citizenship.     They 


PROBLEMS  AND   METHODS   OF  AMERICANIZATION  27 

are  going  to  be  kinder,  but  firmer ;  more  sympathetic,  but  less 
lax;  gentler,  but  more  just,  in  their  administration  of  all  that 
pertains  to  the  foreigner  within  our  gates. 

Among  the  citizenry  at  home  the  wholesale  support  of  the 
campaigns  for  the  aid  of  the  soldiers  in  the  camps  has  shown 
that  unity  is  the  underlying  aim  of  America,  for  in  such  "drives'' 
as  the  Red  Cross,  the  United  War  Work  Fund  and  others,  the 
breaking  down  of  man-made  barriers  of  society  and  religion 
has  been  notable  particularly  in  the  sweeping  away  of  prejudice 
between  Jew  and  Gentile,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  Sectarianism 
and  Sectionalism  in  general.  When  Patrick  Henry  said,  ''I  am 
not  a  Virginian,  but  an  American,"  he  prepared  the  way  for  the 
millions  who  were  to  come  later  to  assert  as  effectively,  "I  am 
not  a  national  of  this  or  that  European  country,  but  I  am  an 
American." 

The  tower  of  Babel  loses  its  menace  of  the  many-tohgued 
millions  in  the  universal  spirit  of  those  who  blend  of  their  own 
i'cee  will  in  the  likeness  of  the  ideal  American. 

To  seek  and  acknowledge  the  good  that  other  nations  have 
achieved  as  well  as  to  be  proud  of  our  own  attainments  is  the 
aim  of  the  true  American.  To  shut  one's  eyes  to  the  attainments 
of  people  in  other  lands  is  worse  than  provmeialism,  it  is  an 
affliction. 

It  may  be  true  that  one  nation's  accomplishments  in  some 
field  excel  those  of  another,  yet  to  know  what  that  other  has 
also  contributed  to  the  sum  total  of  the  world's  culture  is  to 
know  the  whole  truth.  ''Above  all  nations  is  humanity."  say  the 
Cosmopolites,  and  ''Above  one  nation's  truth  is  Truth,  pure  and 
simple."  John  Huss  over  five  hundred  years  ago  wrote,  "Hear 
the  truth,  learn  the  truth,  love  the  truth,  speak  the  truth,  keep 
the  truth,  guard  the  truth  until  death."  What  we  need  is  not. 
as  a  Japanese  student  remarked,  "English  truth,  French  truth. 
German  truth,  but  Truth." 

President  Wilson  said  in  his  Flag  Day  address  at  Washing- 
ton, June  14,  1916:  "When  the  world  finally  learns  that 
America  is  indivisible,  then  the  world  will  learn  how  truly  and 
profoundly  great  and  powerful  America  is."  This  indivisibility 
can  come  only  as  a  result  of  the  acceptance  of  the  integral  truth 
of  the  nations  which  have  given  to  us  of  their  children. 


28  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

Becoming  an  American  is  not  the  mere  adoption  of  American 
citizenship,  but  the  actual  and  complete  adjustment  of  the  immi- 
grant to  the  American  economic,  social  and  moral  standards  and 
methods.  Americanization  has  been  accomplished  only  when 
the  immigrant  feels  and  thinks  like  an  American  and  as  a  result 
acts  like  an  American.  Being  an  American  is  a  state  of  mind,  a 
matter  of  the  ideals  one  holds  and  lives  up  to. 

The  Americans  will  always  welcome  to  these  shores  those 
foreigners  whose  purpose  it  is  to  keep  the  oath  of  aJlegiance 
which  they  pledge  to  this  country  of  their  adoption.  This  gov- 
ernment will  receive  with  open  arms  those  who  intend  to  think 
and  feel  and  act  like  Americans.  Thinking  and  acting  together 
on  the  essential  principles  which  represent  democracy,  indivisi- 
biliity  in  loyalty  to  the  flag — living  and  letting  live,  giving  *'a 
square  deal ' ',  that  should  be  the  final  test  for  the  real  American 
and  in  this  way  we  can  truly  bridge  the  Atlantic. 

Can  we  not  mould  into  the  American  ideal  the  art  and  un- 
boastf ul  pluck  of  the  French ;  the  sense  of  beauty  of  the  Italian ; 
the  idealism  and  devotion,  despite  every  sorrow  of  the  Slav,  be 
he  Russian,  Czech,  Pole  or  Serb ;  the  steadfastness  of  the  Scandi- 
navian; the  liberal  democracy  of  the  English;  yes,  even  the 
merely  material  efficiency  of  the  German?  Will  not  the  trans- 
fused metal  made  up  of  all  these  splendid  constituents  become 
the  purest  gold?  Shall  not  the  perfect  Alchemist  make  of  these 
human  ingredients  the  most  gifted  and  most  useful  of  his  crea- 
tures? The  American  spirit  of  live  and  let  live  shall  absorb  and 
harmonize  all  elements — and  the  alien  of  yesterday  will  be  the 
American  of  tomorrow. 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  29 

Recommendations 

The  use  of  the  English  language  as  a  common  means  of 
communication. 

Organization 

Organize  Commission  consisting  of  Mayor,  School  Superin- 
tendent, Chamber  of  Commerce,  heads  of  all  industrial  establish- 
ments employing  foreign  born  labor,  all  heads  of  social  service 
agencies,  representatives  of  all  foreign  groups,  representatives  of 
Labor  Bureau,  United  States  Bureau  of  Naturalization.  This 
commission  should  appoint  sub-eommittees,  each  of  which  would 
be  responsible  for  some  one  division  of  the  work. 

1.  Night  Schools 

Establish  night  schools  in  the  centrally  located  public 
schools. 

(a)  Secure  capable  teachers,  sympathetic,  resourceful,  ener- 
getic, strong  social  spirit.  Have  same  teacher  in 
charge  of  day  classes  and  visiting  of  foreign  women. 

(b)  What  to  teach: 

(1)  Teach  English,  speaking,  reading,  writing. 

(2)  Teach  History,  local,  state,  American,  world,  cur- 
rent events. 

(3)  Teach  civics,  meaning,  privileges  and  responsibili- 
ties of  citizenship. 

(a)  Local  organizations,  health,  fire  and  public 
departments. 

(b)  State  organizations. 
(e)     Federal   organizations. 

(4)  Teach   Geography. 

(5)  Teach  Arithmetic,    Book-keeping. 

(6)  Teach  Stenography,  Typewriting. 

(c)  Aim  to  secure  socialization  of  High  School. 

(d)  Success  measured  by  regularity  of  attendance. 

(e)  Time:  Advanced  classes,  two  times  weekly;  beginning 
classes,  three  times  weekly. 

2.  Afternoon  Classes  for  Immigrant  Women 

(a)     Personal  visits  of  real  help  to  homes  of  foreigners. 


30  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

(b)  Two  hour  sessions,  one  for  speaking,  reading  and 
writing  English;  one  for  sewing,  cooking,  sanitation,, 
demonstration,   stereopticon  views. 

3.  Industrial  Establishments 

(1)  Noon  sessions. 

(a)  Preferably    after   lunch   and    before  work    is    re- 
sumed, five  minutes  community  singing. 

(b)  Five  minute  talk  on  some  phase  of  city  life. 

(1)  Sanitation,  city,  home. 

(2)  Avoidance  of  fire  and  accidents. 

(3)  First  Aid. 

(4)  Home  for  orphans,  aged,  etc. 

(5)  Use  of  public  library. 

(6)  Significance  of  impending  elections. 
(e)     Talk  on  some  phase  of  industry. 

Illustrations. 
Employment  agencies. 

(2)  Healthful  recreation. 

(a)  Games,   sports. 

(b)  Dances,   properly   directed. 

(c)  Singing   clubs. 

(3)  Economic. 

fa)     A  decent  wage  for  men  and  women. 

(b)  No  discrimination  against  foreigner  in  wage  for 
work  equal  to  that  of  native  born  laborer. 

(c)  Safety  appliances  in  factories  and  mills. 

4.  Public  Libraries 

Special  attendants  to  show  to  the  foreign  born  uses  of  library, 
book  shelf  system,  newspaper  and  magazine  racks.  Books  and 
magazines  in  foreign  tongue  on  American  subjects.  Throw  out 
anti-American  papers  and  articles.  Make  the  place  attractive 
and  not  a  scene  of  awesome  fear.  Special  art  and  book  exhibits 
of  different  national  groups. 

■).    Trade  Unions 

Urge  foreign  born  members  to  attend  citizenship  and  night 
school  classes,  to  take  out  naturalization  papers.  Distribute 
information  and  helpful  pamphlets  on  significance  of  American 
institutions. 


PROBLEMS  AND  METHODS  OF  AMERICANIZATION  31 

6.  Churches 

Invite  foreign  born  to  affiliate,  but  not  in  spirit  of  mission- 
aries. Make  them  feel  at  home.  There  will  then  be  fewer  at 
the  public  houses  which  do  make  them  feel  at  home. 

7.  Lodges,  Organizations 

Special  programs  studying  customs  and  histories  of  our 
allies  and  other  governments.  Sympathetic  acknowledgement  of 
achievements  of  each  group. 

8.  Child  Welfare,   Better  Baby  Tests  and  Contests,  Mothers' 
and  School  Patrons'  Clubs 

Secure  as  leaders  women  of  all  foreign  groups  represented 
in  community.  Also  talks  by  physicians  or  specialists,  if  pos- 
sible in  the  language  of  the  foreigner,  otherwise  in  simple,  clear 
English. 

9.  Canning  and  Sewing  Classes 

If  conducted  by  trained  demonstration  agents  who  have 
Idiowledge  of  foreign  tongue,  these  short  schools  can  be  doubly 
useful  as  agencies  of  Americanization.  Secure  attendance  of  all 
the  women  of  foreign  stock. 

10.  Social  Welfare  Committees.    Municipal  Commissions 

(a)  Inspect  and  report  on  housing  conditions  among  for- 
eign born.  Municipal  authorities  can  secure  attention  of  land- 
lords to  sanitation  and  decent  condition  of  tenants'  dwellings. 

(b)  Laws  against  exploitation  of  foreigners  on  trains, 
steamboats,  by  emplo^^ment  agencies,  savings  associations,  private 
banks,  assessment  insurance  societies,  steamship  companies,  cor- 
porations, securing  contract  labor.  Correction  of  maldistribution 
or  overcrowding  of  foreigners  in  certain  districts. 

(c)  Municipal  savings  clubs,  building  and  loan  associations, 
supervised  savings  banks  and  insurance  societies,  encourage- 
ment of  Postal  Savings  Bank. 

11.  Recreation  Agencies 

American  sports  are  fine  Americanizers.  One  well  enjoj^ed 
game  of  baseball  beats  twenty  sermons  on  citizenship  in  mak- 
ing a  man  grow  into  full-fledged  happy  Americanism.  Give  the 
foreign  born  some  fun.  A  Slavic  priest,  in  speaking  of  the  min- 
ing element,  said,  "Our  people  do  not  live  in  America,  but  under 


32  BRIDGING  THE  ATLANTIC 

America."  Let's  give  them  a  taste  and  knowledge  of  this 
great  typical  American  game  of  baseball.  Let  them  enjoy  foot- 
ball, basketball,  field  sports,  track,  swimming  pools.  The  theater 
and  movies,  with  specially  selected  reels  on  American  history,  in- 
dustries, traditions  and  ideals  may  be  interspersed  profitably  be- 
tween purely  entertainment  features. 
12.    Speakers,  Lecturers 

In  native  tongue,  clear  and  attractive  discussions  on  public 
questions,  American  history  and  institutions,  duties  and  priv- 
ileges of  citizens,  need  of  team  work,  and  dangers  of  demagogues 
and  of  class-hatreds. 

Statistics  of  Foreign  Bom  in  Nebraska 

Nebraska 's  foreign  born  population  in  1910  was  176,662  in  a 
total  population  of  1,192,214.  Of  the  foreign  born  57,302  were 
born  in  Germany;  24,362  in  Austria,  23,219  in  Sweden;  13,674 
in  Denmark ;  13,020  in  Russia  (these  being  chiefly  Germans)  ; 
8,124  in  Ireland;  8,009  in  England;  7,335  in  Canada  (675  French 
Canadians);  3,799  in  Italy;  3,459  in  Greece;  all  other  countries, 
14,359. 

Only  twelve  states  in  the  Union  have  more  Germans  than 
Nebraska,  which  therefore  is  thirteenth  in  the  matter  of  German 
population.  It  is  eleventh  in  Scandinavian  population;  twen- 
tieth in  Irish  population;  thirteenth  in  number  of  natives  of  Aus- 
tria-Hungary; nineteenth  in  natives  of  Russia  and  Finland; 
twenty-second  in  number  of  natives  of  England,  Scotland  and 
Wales.  There  were  5,166  individuals  of  Polish  origin  in  Ne- 
braska, over  two-thirds  of  whom  came  from  Austria  and  Ger- 
many. 

68.1  per  cent  of  Nebraska's  foreign  population  was  from 
northwest  Europe  and  26.6  per  cent  from  southern  and  eastern 
Europe. 

Omaha  had  in  1910  in  its  total  population  of  124,096  a  total 
of  27,179  foreign  born,  chiefly  from  Germany,  Sweden,  Austria- 
Hungary  and  Russia.  South  Omaha,  which  since  1910  has  been 
annexed  to  Omaha,  had  a  population  of  26,259,  of  whom  8,021 
were  foreign  born,  with  Austria  in  a  small  lead,  although  every 
foreign  country  is  fairly  represented.  Lincoln,  in  a  total  pop- 
ulation of  43,973,  had  7,218  foreign  born,  most  of  whom  are 
from  Germanv  or  the  German  settlements  of  Russia. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


''^B    8    1934 


OIRCUUTIONDEPT. 


-  D  LP 


tatij 


ID    o 


RECEIVED 


JAN  1  ^  mt 


KFP.  r.iR   JAM  2  8  1979  MAK  2  X  2000 

AUfi  051833 


JCT21  199:- 


AUTO  DISC  CIRC   i^ 


■'^'^  1  ^  mi 


Hai-ga 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse.  N.  Y. 

PAT.  JAN.  2 1.1808 


rC  09126 


U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


<:DmED315T 


^^^~^::- 


42022 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


